Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Acts 28:7

χωρία : “lands,” R.V. Vulgate, prædia. In this passage τόπος and χωρίον occur together, but whilst the former is used of place indefinitely, the latter is used of a definite portion of space enclosed or complete in itself; cf. John 4:5; Grimm-Thayer's Syn [427], sub v., τόπος. τῷ πρώτῳ : an official title technically correct in Malta, Ramsay, St. Paul, p. 343, honoraria appellatio, so too Schmiedel, Encycl. Bibl., i., 47, 1899; as his father was alive, he would not have been called from his estates (see, however, O. Holtzmann, Neutest. Zeitge-schichte, p. 106), but the inscriptional authorities confirm the first view, a Greek inscription giving πρῶτος Μελιταίων καὶ Πάτρων, applied to a Roman Knight, Prudens by name, ἱππεὺς Ῥ., so that Publius may well have been of the same rank, and in a Latin inscription we have municipii Melitensium primus omnium, see Zahn, Einleitung, ii., p. 422; Blass, in loco; Zöckler, Holtzmann, Knabenbauer, also Alford, Lewin, Hackett, Renan; possibly the conjecture may be correct that the Greek and Latin inscriptions give a translation of a title which the Romans already found in vogue in the island. Publius would be naturally the chief authority in the island under the Roman prœtor of Sicily, Cic., Verr., iv., 18. Ποπλίῳ : Greek form for the prænomen Publius, “nomen a populus derivatum,” Blass; Ramsay, p. 343, thinks that Poplius may = the Greek rendering of the nomen Popilius, but that the peasantry may have spoken of him familiarly by his prætnomen Publius. Tradition makes him bishop of Malta (Felten, Knabenbauer). ἀναδεξ.: only here of hospitable reception = ὑποδέχεσθαι, Acts 17:7; φιλοφ., Malachi 3:9; Malachi 3:9 4Ma 8:5; in the former passage φιλοφ. ἀποδεχθείς, so in Jos., Ant., xiv., 8, 5, φιλοφ. ὑποδέχεσθαι, and instances in Wetstein, see above on Acts 28:2. ἡμᾶς : some take the word as referring to Paul and his companions, Luke and Aristarchus (as it seems to lead on to what follows), perhaps including Julius, whilst others point out that he may have entertained the whole crew for the short space of time mentioned, as the ἡμέρας τρεῖς indicates that the entertainment was only provisional; probably he had a large number of slaves (Nösgen, Weiss). Publius may well have been officially responsible for the needs of the Roman soldiers and their prisoners, but φιλοφ. indicates that the duty was performed with generous courtesy. ἐξένισεν : entertained (as his guests), cf. Acts 10:6; Acts 10:23, etc., Hebrews 13:2. The traditional site was at Civita Vecchia, the old capital of the island, where St. Paul spent the three months, and another tradition places it on the way from St. Paul's Bay to the capital.

[427] synonym, synonymous.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Acts 28:7

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